Puttinghis hand on the floor he whispered the word of his canting and my legs prickledas he poured his magic into the foundation. Blue tendrils of power fanned outand crept over the debris and shattered frontage. Everything blurred as theshards slowly rolled and tumbled back into their original position as thecracks slowly sealed shut. Within a few minutes, you couldn't even tell someonehad launched an incendiary device into my place of business. The onlyirreparable items were the poster board promotions that were burnt beyondrecognition. As the damage faded, so did my heavy breathing.
"Thanks,Chief."
"Mypleasure." He smiled as he nodded.
Ipoured even more power into the shields and wards, expanding them outward asmidge. Next time, if there was one, the rocketwouldn't even make it through the window. Smiling as I finished,I managed to stammer, "Everybody take the rest of the day off,"before passing out.
∞∞ ∞
Atleast someone had taken me home and put me in my own bed and not left me passedout on the carpeted floor in front of the registers. So, I had that going forme. A splitting headache was the other.
"Welcomeback," Yuki whispered from behind me.
"Ow,my head."
"Ithought witches didn't get headaches?"
"Wedon't. Hangovers, sometimes, but headaches no. This is the second one thisweek. What the hell." I rubbed the bridge of my nose as I rolled over onmy back.
Yukipropped her head up on her hand and gave me a worried look. "When was thelast time you fed?"
"Thismorning. I had a burger and a bite of steak before bookstore went boom boom."
"Ididn't say ate, I said fed."
"Tomato,tomahto."
"Damnit, Master. You need blood now, too. I thought you figuredthat out."
"Liquiddiets are for when I get dentally challenged. I used my witch power at thestore."
"Weneed to get you a supernatural nutritionist or something." I heard a softcrunch and then she held a bleeding finger over my lips. "Does that makeyou hungry?"
Ilooked at the ruby red drop hanging from the tip of her index finger andnodded. It was almost seductive in its allure. Without thinking, I liftedmyself from the mattress and licked the drop from the source, nearly whining asthe flavor exploded in my head.
Yukisighed and snapped her fingers.
Tomy surprise, a shirtless Ellis entered my room.
Thehunger that had been momentarily filled by diner burger instantly expanded anddemanded to be filled again by sangrealdu noir elf.
Elliscrawled into the bed, pulling me on top of his rather chiseled chest, andoffered me his neck. My fangs pierced his flesh and his blood splattered acrossmy tongue. Inhaling his scent, I pressed my forehead against his silky hair andpulled my meal from his vein, refusing to stop until he started slamming hisopen palm against the mattress between Yuki and me.
"Master,"she warned softly.
Ilet go and rolled off him, letting him catch his breath.
Preparingto be sated, I rubbed my tummy and smiled happily until the pain twisted in mygut again. "More," I groaned.
"Shit."Yuki offered me her wrist.
Grabbingit frantically, I sank my fangs between her tendons and guzzled her blood. Shehad a completely different flavor from Ellis. He was spicy, she was sweet. Whenshe frantically pulled her arm from my mouth with a twist and a wince, I criedout for more.
Sheaand Dar stepped from the shadows and looked at the three of us worriedly.Without thinking, Shea stripped off his shirt and crawled atop me, offering hisshoulder. If he had been three times his size, he wouldn't have filled myhunger. When he tapped out, Dar took his place.
Sheawas a side dish, but Dar was a meal. Wrapping my arms around him, I drank andfed and drank some more. He was endless. When his hips started bucking againstme and he cried out with a shudder, I was full.
"Houston,we have a problem."
Ilooked over at Yuki. "What?"
Shesighed and let her head fall to the pillow beside me. "Think about who andwhat you just ate."
Ilooked at the men spilled across my bed and the vampire beside me. "Shit."
"Yeah.Your belly needed to be filled by all your domains. Let's just hope your hungeris sated long enough for us to recoup what we lost."
"Ihope to goddess it is." I frowned, not wanting to contemplate theimplications if it wasn't. I could barely feed from my friends. The thought of strangersopening a vein for me turned my stomach. Just not in a hungry way.
"Nowwe need to talk about my uncle."
Icouldn't roll over to face her as I was covered in hunk, but I turned my headand almost frowned at the seriousness etched upon her face. Yuki was manythings. Broody, comical, angsty, and even snarkastic, but serious wasn't one ofthem. It was kind of scary. "Do we have to?"
"No.You can wait until he launches a rocket at someplace without wards and shields.Like the diner or the vampire's house."
"Hewouldn't do that…" I trailed off. Judging by the look on her face, hewould. He might even enjoy it. "But they're innocents?"
"Andyou love them. And it would wreck you."
"Itwould," I answered thoughtfully.
Yukiput her hand on my cheek. "Bring the war to him before it spirals out ofcontrol."
"So,what? You just want me to pop over to Ashville all willy-nilly and assassinateyour uncle?"
"Yes!That's exactly what I want you to do."
"Yuki…"
"Please,master, for one time, just please listento me."
Isilenced her with a finger to her lips. "I hear you, and on some level, Iagree with you. I have no problem killing in self-defense. I have no problemkilling when there is no other option. But as long as the thought that there is another option is in my head, Ican't do it. That's not who I am and that's not who I want to be."
"Buthe almost killed innocent people in your store!"
"Andif he had, this conversation would not behappening."
"So,you're going to wait until he does?"
"No.I'm going to scare the fucking shit out of him. I'm going to make himunderstand that he is nothing compared to me. Want to know why?Because I have all of you." I poked her in theforehead.
"Neverbring a gun to a Yuki fight." Dar
